Third runway at Heathrow Airport would drive growth, Healey says
I find it odd that the defence secretary is the one talking up a third runway, as if economic growth were a threat that needed a military escort. The real story is the prime minister's silence, which reads like a man trying to keep his options open while the runway itself would close them for decades. Heathrow is already near capacity, so the question of whether to build is really a question about what kind of future we're willing to commit to.
I'd want to know what the trade-offs actually are, who benefits, and whether the promised growth is a solid thing or just jet exhaust. Every runway is a bet that the next fifty years will look like the last fifty, and that's a strange wager to make when the climate is shifting under our feet. The political hedging feels like a refusal to admit that some choices can't be postponed forever. Healey has picked a side, and Starmer hasn't, which tells you everything about who's willing to own the consequences.